Few Resodering RKE boxes ?

[Prospeeder]

Ok, so i got my RKE box, well,i just had to take off my back speaker cover, and it slid right out, it wasnt like, held in or nothing, i opened it

 

Well, You put laquer thinner on it, and u brush off the coating, isnt this bad for the circut board? could it damage it?

 

to u need to take out the old sodering joints first?

 

And do u need to re do that coating thats clear and glossy? why was it there?

[Redwolf]

the laquer thinner should not get on the relays (big coils on the component side), and should generally stay off the component side, but on the back side it should not hurt anything.

 

You don't have to take off the joints first, but it's prefered. Use some desoldering braid for this, you can find it at RadioShack. I just reheated the joints and added some solder to each...it won't last long but I didn't have any braid when I did this.

 

You don't have to reapply the glossy coat. It's there to protect the circuit from getting scratched up and such...so just don't start rubbing sandpaper against the boards and you should be okay.

[1990lumina]

Yeah, the thinner will clean everything up so as Redwolf said, just don't get to much into the relays.

 

God damn Canada, we do we have different names for the same store?? This summer RadioShack changed it's name in Canada to "The Source" By Circuit City

[Prospeeder]

alrighty, the relays are the red coily things then, il give this a try, my dads friends really good with a sodering iron, and has a soder remover

[GnatGoSplat]

Yeah, as has been said, lacquer thinner won't hurt anything on the solder side.

 

I found it works just as well to coat the solder joints with paste flux and just heat them up till they turn bright and shiny. The RKE in the 94 Cutlass has been working great for the last 3yrs with that method.

 

I'm not sure what that clear coating is for. I've only seen it on OEM automotive circuit boards. I've always guessed it's some kind of weatherproofing, perhaps to prevent malfunction when the humidity or moisture level is real high. Whatever it is, it isn't important. Aftermarket car stereos and Denso digital dashes don't have such a coating, and they are more reliable than Delco electronics. It wouldn't surprise me if that coating is actually what causes the solder to be more likely to go bad in the Delco stuff.

[Redwolf]

I'm not sure what that clear coating is for. I've only seen it on OEM automotive circuit boards. I've always guessed it's some kind of weatherproofing, perhaps to prevent malfunction when the humidity or moisture level is real high. Whatever it is, it isn't important. Aftermarket car stereos and Denso digital dashes don't have such a coating, and they are more reliable than Delco electronics. It wouldn't surprise me if that coating is actually what causes the solder to be more likely to go bad in the Delco stuff.

 

What causes the solder to 'go bad' is the fact that the solder is pretty piss poor quality to begin with, and after all those 'spirited drives' (or lots of unspirited drives) the joints crack or settle wrong, then there is no connection.

 

The laquor coating, I'm not really sure either. It's probably to keep idiots like us from resoldering our boards for all I know.

[Prospeeder]

haha, alright, ill just use the laquer thinner on it

[Guest TurboSedan]

i tried fixing mine by simply heating up the solder joints with a soldering iron about 4 times and it would stop working 1-2 months later each time. i finally fixed it by adding a little bit of paste solder flux to the solder joints before heating them up. that was over a year ago and it still works great.

[Prospeeder]

oh wow thanks! i might just heat em up and add on to them, that seems easiest, how time consuming is this? it doenst seem like it will take THAT long

[GnatGoSplat]

Not long at all if you use the paste flux method.

[Jcrow]

I heard the coating actually pulls the traces apart when it shrinks/expands with temperature. It was probably put on to stop corrosion, but backfired

[Guest TurboSedan]

yeah i didn't even add any solder at all. the paste flux just helped the existing solder "flow" to where it was supposed to be. or at least that's what it seemed like and it definately worked.

[GnatGoSplat]

I heard the coating actually pulls the traces apart when it shrinks/expands with temperature. It was probably put on to stop corrosion, but backfired

 

Yup, I think that's right, I distinctly remember reading that somewhere.

It's probably no coincidence the non-coated boards hardly ever have problems.

[Prospeeder]

http://www.w-body.com/service/keyless-rx2.jpg

 

THIS doesnt look like mine, ours has em in different places, and many more sodering joints, we resodered them, and it still didnt work, we went to a j/y, pulled on out of a 92 GP and one out of a 90 Cutlass Supreme, those 2 wouldnt even ground out. But the our orinal one grounds, but doesnt work still, wi might try my other fob, i dunno, but this is pissing me off big time, we went and ripped out the back dash of tons of cars to find the boxes and nothin

 

is it possible to get a new one? or should i keep looking in the yards till i get lucky, how much are new ones, and how many years do that last?

[futuretgper]

hey im resoldering mine right now....i have it all resoldered and stuff and it grounds out and cycles now......but how do i reprogram the fob.....ive searched and read that you push buttons while grounding.....any other specifics i should know because im getting nothign out of that procedure...i checked the batteries in both my fobs and they are good...so do i need to redo the solders agian or could it still be the box!?!?

[Prospeeder]

while the locks cycle, press all the buttons on ur fob, i got mine working, it found out my fob was bad, and i used my spare fob and it worked!

[futuretgper]

i just went and tried that......no good....im gonna try the resolder again! :?

 

if that doesnt do it im gonna try the junk yards!!

 

haha one good thing came of this....somehow my driver side power unlock started working.....it was my next project since a rke is no good if i can't get in cuase the lock doesn't unlock anyway!!

[Prospeeder]

ur drivers side power lock wont work if the RKE is unplugged, and if it grounds, i think that means its good, cause i tried quite a few j/y ones, none of them would ground, so try a different fob if u can

[digitaloutsider]

All my power locks worked fine with the RKE module unplugged..

[Prospeeder]

on a Grand Prix? 2 door? its just the drivers door using power locks wont work if the RKE is unpplugged, trust me, i unplugged it, the power locks on the drivers door dont work, plug it in, they do.

[Guest TurboSedan]

even though i have fixed my RKE, i don't use it. totally gimmick option as far as i'm concerned. i just can't stand having a big ass remote on my keychain so i never even use it. i would rather my car was like a Ford with the keypad on the door itself. WTF GM? yay for gimmicks.

[Prospeeder]

yuk those wre ugly keypads, i hate how the 1st gen Keyless u gotta press the button fairly hard and usually it takes 2 presses for anything to open, its better than fumbling with keys

[Guest TurboSedan]

yeah my mom has a '99 Grand Am GT and the RKE works a million times better! she can be in her office and press the button and it WORKS. meanwhile i have to be within like 10ft to get mine to work. fuck that. 1st GEN W-body RKE sucks big time and is worthless as far as i'm concerned. it is definately not worth it if i have to carry this big ass remote in my pocket on my keychain when it only works if i'm really really close to the car.

[GP1138]

I have an aftermarket, and - while my power locks are completely inoperative at the moment - it is very nice. I don't have to worry about my many keys and chains scratching my paint.